My question is, "Are women considered human beings?" My own family experience tells me "No". My maternal grandmother and grandfather met each other on their engagement day and then again on their wedding day. Their union was to bring the 2 farms together into 1 large farm. In a sense Grandma was 1 property melding into 1 large property.

Societies of the past all over the world have dictated that a woman should be a virgin so her parents could promise her to a good family, hopefully wealthy, or a successful businessman, or an influential politician. If she had skills like playing a musical instrument or educated all of which adds to her value made her prospects of getting a good husband even better.

If she had been deflowered she was considered a loose woman, not marriage material. Obviously a loose woman can't control her sexual needs and would cheat on her husband and how would he know if her children were his. A man's ego is very fragile and it's alright for him to cheat on his wife but she better not do any cheating.

If a woman was found unpure she, of course, had shamed her family since they were representing her as untouched property and never been used. Now she was valueless and they might as well have drowned her at birth. In my Grandmother's case when she got pregnant all the old women were counting on their fingers when the baby was born compared to her wedding date.

To keep their family's pride these Comfort Women, mostly from Korea, came back home from after the war probably saying they did indeed work in a factory and gave details which family members wouldn't know any different. Their parents would then be able to negotiate a marriage contract with an upstanding family with an eligible husband prospect.

It doesn't matter what country you live in many rape victims are not viewed as victims. Many hear comments, "You asked for cause of the clothes you wear, your skirt is too short, your blouse is too low and you were at the bar looking for a man, you were dancing too sexy egging a man on, so you deserved it." So what does the public say when an 80 year old grandma gets raped in her own home.

To justify what he did 1 former Japanese soldier said these Comfort Women made more money at the war front than they did at home. I see no logic in his statement of raping 12 year old children. A Korean teacher was forced by her principal to tell her 6th graders to go to Japan to help with the war, she feels some became Comfort Women. These children were also consolation to soldiers who might die on the battlefield any day according to another soldier justifying his sick actions.

Korean family members were beaten or killed trying to rescue these young women and when they were sent home there was the threat their family would be killed if they said anything. Since so many families had already been been beaten and murdered this scare tactic didn't need any more reinforcement. The old saying "You can't fight City Hall" is very true. The majority of these Comfort Women came from families with no political influence and a lower class status and no money to fight with. Political officials didn't care what happened to them and military officials felt it was their duty as women to give to the war effort their sacrifice as a human being to be a piece of meat for a man to do with her what he wanted. These uncaring, disturbed creatures never saw what they were doing to these scared, helpless lives.

A Korean Comfort Woman remembers being taken to a hospital and something was done to them and they never had their period again. They were put into a line in front of Chinese soldiers and forced to stab them until they were dead. The women were often beaten by the soldiers and the officers were more abusive. They were drugged with opium on a daily basis to keep them docile so they wouldn't run away. But when they went home after the war their bodies had to go through withdrawal or stay addicted to opium.

Professor Yun Chung Ok in 1988 brought this embarassing situation to the publics attention and tried to get some kind of retribution for these Comfort Women, at least an official government apology. Professor Yoshimi Yoshiaki found documented proof of these atrocities, so the Japanese government could no longer no longer hide under their slimy rock and deny their involvement in these heinous acts. It took the influence and efforts of 2 educated professors (with balls)to confront the government with the accusations. This is not an easy task even with legal documents. We have seen in our history book that outspoken people are often imprisoned for speaking against the government.

These atrocities of kidnapping young women and children for prostitution and sending them all over the word in this century leaves me sick. The young ones have lost their childhood as in the 12 year old Comfort Women. How can this still be hapenning?